Damn it was cold. It was so cold...I knew I should have put on warmer clothes, but I just wanted to leave the house. I felt cold on the inside though too. No matter how sad things got at the vigil, I couldn't cry. I felt void of any emotion, I guess I let it all out earlier. I was thankful though, I would rather not have to make an excuse about my tear ducts bursting in order to explain the bloody teardrops falling from my eyes.

When we first got there, there was this really weird music playing. Like it was sad music, but it was just plain weird...it sounded like something you'd hear at the salon when you go to get your nails done, but during Halloween or something. Maybe it was off an album called Relaxation Song for the Undead. The undead don't like that stuff, take it from someone who is actually undead.

Anyway, once the vigil actually started, people from the community; first a priest, then the sports teams the three kids were on, said a few words about each of the fallen. I couldn't stop staring at the pictures of each of them.

The first one my eyes were drawn to was Charles. His picture was in the middle. It was the picture he took for football the previous year. His dirty blonde hair was swept to the left and his bright green eyes stood out as he smiled. He was handsome, he really was. Charles was always kind too, he was never mean to me when some of his friends were. He defended me on several occasions. Some of his friends liked calling me the "freaky mute." I wonder if they still would try now that he is gone.

My eyes then moved to the picture of his girlfriend, Joline. She was just a freshman, but she looked old enough to be a sophomore like him. Her flawless tan complexion was what all the girls aspired to try to achieve. Her full lips were pulled into a sassy pout and her chocolate brown eyes seemed to be staring into my head. I swear I saw them flicker once...I may be going insane.

The last picture was of a girl named Lily. She was a Junior. I didn't know her very well, but she went on my bus sometimes when she was going over a friend's house. She was pretty tall. Lily was a basketball player, one of the best our school had. She has short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Again, I saw her eyes flicker. If this keeps up, I may consider putting myself in a psycho ward.

I looked down at the candle I had in my hand. I was thankful I decided to wear gloves, the wax was dripping all over me, probably because I was shivering so bad. You'd think that because I have so many things wrong with me for a vampire, I would be a normal body temperature right? Of course not, that would be too easy wouldn't it?

Jonah and I ended up finding Grace and Robert and we stood with them. I've never seen Grace cry before today. She was always so tough, at least in my eyes. It was strange to see her cry. Jonah wished he could cry, I could tell. He and Grace stood arm in arm trying to comfort each other. Rob and I just stared at each other and hoped this thing would be over soon, we were both freezing.

"There's so many people..." Robert whispered to me. I nodded. "These news guys are assholes..." I looked around at the news trucks lined up down the street, taking up the parking spaces for the people who actually wanted to be there for the right reason.

"Would you give us some space please?!" A man exasperatingly said to one of the camera men, who ended up reluctantly moving out of the way. The sound of scattered applause and "thank you's" broke through the sound of a mother's sobs and the harsh wind blowing around us.

"They'll be back..." Grace sniffed. "It's not like they give a fuck."

"I wonder how long they'll be at the school for. I heard that they went right up to Joline's Mom and started asking her questions at her own house."

"They'll be at the school until they get the answers they need, Rob." Jonah told him.

"It sucks." I mumbled. "And when we go back tomorrow, the teachers are just going to continue on with their lessons and tell us we need to move on."

No one said anything for a couple seconds after that. To Grace and Rob, it wasn't like me to speak out like that. I usually kept quiet around them. To Jonah, he knew that I would say what I had to say, and that there was more going on in my head than the radio silence I put out. He eventually broke the silence.

"Are you guys going tomorrow?"

"Maybe... "I haven't slept since we got the news." Grace shrunk into her coat.

"Me either." Rob added. "After everything I just couldn't believe that..."

All of a sudden, I felt dizzy. Really dizzy. This wasn't good, it wasn't good at all. I was getting a vision. I felt pulled away from my body for a moment, and I was looking over everything. I could see the gazebo where the speakers still stood in small group, whispering about god knows what. I could see the tops of their pictures, the flowers and candles sitting oddly organized around them. I could see where I stood with Jonah, Rob, and Grace. I also could see a figure dressed in black walking towards me.

"Evie, Jonah, you guys ready to go?" Hunter asked, putting his hands on my shoulders, pulling me back into my body.

I quickly put my head down, feeling the black ink spread over my eye and the burning sensation as my iris began to change from blue to red. I nodded and mumbled a goodbye to Grace and Rob, before speed-walking away through the crowd of people. Why did we have to stand closer to the front?!

"Evie!" Hunter called after me. I kept walking. "Slow down!"

I slowed my pace slightly, but didn't stop. I couldn't risk being seen by any humans. That wasn't the only reason why I kept going...I felt like I needed to keep going.

"Where are you going? The car is this way!" I felt Jonah tug my arm but I pulled away.

"No." I said.

"No? What do you mean no?! Do you see the freaking car over there?"

I had an image in my head. There was this large shed in the middle of the woods nearby. There was something off about it. Sure it looked creepy; no lights, the siding was scratched off, and the inside was an absolute mess, but there was something else...

"No." I said again, and kept walking. I needed to get there.

"Everleigh!"

"Don't Jonah, we can't disturb her when she's like this...you know that."

"Hunter I don't give a damn! She's walking to the middle of nowhere! She's going to get lost at the pace she's going."

"We'll keep up then!"

I couldn't make sense of their words after that, they sounded foreign to me. I heard a whispering in the back of my head though. It screamed at me, although it was quiet.

Help...please...

I don't know why I didn't turn around then, every piece of me ached to get out of this vision, it wasn't like the others. I could see the inside of shed more clearly now. It was messy, dead rats and their droppings along with screws and nails lay on the floor. Various tools, weapons maybe, sat on work tables. It looked like a carpenter maybe worked here at one point, obviously no one had come by in a long while...or had they? I felt someone's presence there. They were in the ground...beneath me...

Please help...anyone!

It was then when I smacked right into the side of the shed. I fell backwards and landed on the ground. I stayed there for a second, looking at the full moon surrounded by all the stars. I still felt the presence...it was even closer now.

I'll do anything...just stop this...

I put my ear to the ground to try to hear the voice better. Was it really in my head?! Or was someone buried alive underground? Maybe ghosts are speaking to me...great! I'll be going to a mental institution for real now...please and thank you.

"Evie? What on earth are you doing?" Hunter asked.

I stood up and looked around. Definitely the shed I saw as I was walking here. Running here maybe? I couldn't remember how I got here, I just saw the vision and then smacked into the damn building. I walked up the stone steps to the door. It was locked. I punched through the glass window, which was covered in a dust so thick that you couldn't see through it. I reached in for the doorknob and opened it.

"Evie! What the fuck?" Jonah exclaimed.

Please...

"Shut up!" I yelled back. I wasn't sure if I was talking to Jonah or the voice. I felt a hand grab my shoulder before I could move in.

"I feel like we should leave, you already did the breaking, let's leave before you do the entering part, okay? I'd rather not get arrested."

"We can take the cops you know. I can sing and make them forget it even happened. I need to get in here."

"Evie what's going on?" Hunter asked.

"I'm not sure, but I have to get in here." He gave me a quick nod.

"Let's make this quick then."

The three of us went in. I could tell Jonah was freaked. It was funny in a way. He acts so tough, but he's terrified of things he doesn't understand. I can relate though, most of us are.

Looking around, I saw the work tables with the...weapons? Yeah, weapons. They looked like some movie prop. There were some knives there, a bow with silver arrows, all with intricate designs on them.

A long staff caught my eye. At the top of it, long curved blades extended from the silver handle. A stone sat where the blades connected with the handle. It looked like something the grim reaper would carry when he wanted to spice up his accessories. I ran my fingers along it, feeling the engraved designs. As I did so a humming noise filled the air as the stone glowed purple. I almost laughed. Such as menacing weapons glowed such a light, and girly shade of purple, my favorite color actually.

"Woah that's sick!" Jonah exclaimed. He moved to touch it as well.

The second his fingers were close, a loud zap filled the air as he jumped back. With the light that emitted from the staff at his touch, the sound, and the fact that his fingers were smoking, I would say he got electrocuted.

"Goddamnit!"

"Why didn't it shock you?" Hunter questioned me. He seemed to be full of questions as of now, not that I could blame him. I shrugged. Hunter quickly grabbed the staff, and the same thing occurred.

"Take off your gloves and do it again." I rolled my eyes at Jonah and did as I was told.

This time when I touched it, a bright light emitted from it. I was sure I was in for it...but then as the light faded, the staff tapped against the table. It had changed shape. The ends of the staff rounded, and the whole weapons was shorter. It was almost the size of a walking stick, and was a little bit thicker than a half dollar's width.

"Okay, take that with you and let's get out of here. We can have Ed look at it when we get home."

Help...

"Not yet." I walked forward towards where I thought the voice was coming from. It sounded weaker...he sounded weaker.

I'll do anything...

"Where are you?"

"Evie, who the hell are you talking to?" Hunter was now getting frightened too.

"I hear someone."

"Well no one is talking, can we leave?!" Jonah moved next to me. I shook my head and took another step forward. I tripped over something sticking up out of the floor and landed on my ass.

"Ouch..." I looked to the floor where I tripped. "It looks like a handle." Hunter pulled up on it, it opened to reveal a set of stone stairs that led into darkness.

"Shit...we need to get out of here now."

"No..." I protested. My iris once again burned, signaling the eyeball was coming back...I didn't even feel it leave. "I need to get down there, he's down there."

"Who?!" Jonah groaned. "Who the hell would possibly be down there? If down there looks anything like up here, I doubt anyone would be." I moved and started to go down the stairs. He pulled me back. "At least let us go first."

Hunter moved first down the stairs, Jonah was next. I looked back at the staff still sitting on the table. A part of me told me I couldn't leave it here. I ran and grabbed it before moving down the stairs. I was thankful for the fact I could somewhat see in the dark. When Hunter hit the last stair, I heard the splashing of water.

"How isn't it frozen? It's like thirty degrees outside."

"Maybe it's thirty degrees Celsius?" Jonah teased as he moved next to him.

As I approached behind them, I noticed that there was a light down here. Well it wasn't really a light, more like the natural lighting from the moon shone in through a skylight. The ground was covered in about an inch or two of water. In the center of the room, there was a mahogany colored box...a coffin maybe? It sat on layers of stones that put it higher than the water. It sat right under the skylight. The water moved in waves, quietly crashing against the stone wall next to us. It was like a beckoning call.

"Evie, please tell me this person who was talking to you isn't in that coffin."

Help...

Is that all you can say? How about a name?!

"I'd be lying then." I told Hunter as I pushed passed them and moved forward. His voice was louder now. It didn't sound like in was in my head anymore. He had to have been whispering in my ear. He's a ghost, isn't he?

"Please don't be a ghost...please don't be a ghost..." I pleaded as I moved towards the coffin. Once I got under the sky light, I looked at the latch on the outside of the coffin. It stood about waist high in comparison to me.

"Are you sure we can't just leave? We can't unsee what's in there." Jonah wanted to leave. If he were human he'd be shaking out of fear. I opened the coffin as my response. The three of us jumped back and screamed.

Inside the coffin was a boy, about my age, in a ripped navy blue zip up sweatshirt, with a tattered white shirt underneath. The sweatpants he wore were also ripped and all of his clothes were covered in dirt and blood. He had a silver knife, similar to the ones upstairs, buried in the left side of his chest, right where his heart would be. His hands were wrapped around it loosely. It was then I noticed the top of the coffin. The inside of the top read "Prince of Traitors" and I didn't have to smell the dried blood to know that the message was written in it. A metal crown with various jewels sat around his head, almost confirming the message.

"First we broke and entered, then a freaky weapon decides to hate everyone but Evie, and now there is a corpse that's speaking to her. And I thought I was the weird twin." I slapped his arm.

"Don't be an ass. You think I'm not terrified right now?!" I exclaimed. "This is bad..."

"I'm going to call Ed, I feel like maybe we should...get rid of the body." Hunter pulled out his phone. "I'm going to go upstairs to see if I get service up there. Don't touch anything." I could tell the last part was mostly directed to me. I was almost humored, I would have laughed if not for the boy in front of me.

"That's a nice knife..." Jonah said, breaking the silence.

"Take one from upstairs if you like it so much." He shook his head.

"I don't want to touch it, it may shock me. Maybe we should pull the knife out though..."

"Why?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to be buried with a knife in my chest...pull it out."

"Ew gross! No!"

"Evie, we drink blood for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can't get any grosser!"

"I...I can't do it Jonah."

"Fine, give me your gloves then. Maybe it won't be so bad if they are covered first."

"I don't think it will shock you, I think it's just this..." I shook the staff. It flashed and turned back to how it was before. "Shit! Go back!" I shook it furiously until it changed itself once more.

"How would you know?" I shrugged.

"Just a hunch."

"Okay screw the gloves, I'm just going to do it without them. I don't want to risk that thing changing again." I nodded and stood back.

Jonah quickly reached forward and pulled the knife out. As soon as he got it, he dropped with a splash in the water. I then realized maybe I should have been the one to do that. With the water all around, if it did electrocute Jonah, then it would have spread through the water and hit me, or worse, maybe it would have been strong enough to restart this guy's heart.

Help me...

"Did you hear that?" Jonah asked me.

"Did you hear him too?!" I asked hopefully. I didn't want to be the only one going crazy. Maybe I was already crazy...he shook his head.

"No, something in here moved."

"We should go back to Hunter." I was really starting to get freaked out. I really wished I stayed home.

The two of us turned around to leave. We were just three steps away from reaching the bottom stair when a loud gasp broke the monotonous sound of our footsteps in the water. Jonah and I looked at each other, then looked back at the corpse. The corpse was alive...Didn't I say the irony would get worse? This was only the beginning, although we didn't know it then.

We jumped back and screamed for the second time that night, as the corpse...boy...as the boy screamed back. We must have frightened him. He looked at us with fear in his eyes. His complexion looked even paler now that he was out of the coffin, his eyes were a deep crimson color. He was a vampire, like us. Well, not like me, but a vampire nonetheless.

"Hey...hey there...uh...how are you?" Jonah's social skills weren't the best. If this boy didn't want to punch him, then I certainly did. Why would you ask someone who just rose from the dead how they are? Obviously it didn't make much sense, at least to me. The male snarled and sunk into a crouch.

"What's going on?" Hunter stood behind us and stared at the boy. I covered his mouth before he could say anything.

"Let me handle this." I told the two. I looked back over at the boy and began moving closer to him. He sunk deeper in his crouch and growled. "We aren't going to hurt you." His expression all of a sudden changed. The fear and defensiveness faded into an expression of shock.

"I have...I...know...your voice." I raised an eyebrow.

"Were you the one speaking to me earlier?" I asked him softly. He mimicked my previous motion with the opposite eyebrow.

"I...maybe...I don't...re-remember." He stuttered. He was probably having a hard time talking because he was thirsty. Who knows how long he's gone without blood.

"Um..." I looked back at Hunter and Jonah, who started gesturing for me to go back over there. I ignored them. Something told me I needed to get through to this boy, and I needed to do it now.

"Do you know what happened to you?" He shook his head. "Do you know where we are?" He shook his head, his eyes filling up with venom.

"I don't...remember anything."

"Okay um..."

"Would you mind coming with us?" Hunter asked him. The boy snarled again. "We aren't going to hurt you, but I think this situation would be more comfortable if you came with us."

"Am...I supposed...to trust you?" He sounded frightening right now. If he was going to attack, he probably would attack me since I was the closest. Then again, he doesn't act towards me as he does towards Hunter and Jonah.

"I don't think you have much of a choice. I mean if you were to go out on your own, whoever did this to you may still be out there, and they may do worse than this next time." I spoke softly, not wanting to anger him. "I promise we won't hurt you. I know a promise from a stranger doesn't mean much, but it's something."

"Fine..." He stood up from his crouch.

"Look, I have to go get the car, okay. If you have any trouble, call. I shouldn't be gone for long." Hunter said. "And you..." he pointed to the boy. "If you try to leave, and hurt either one of them, I promise you that I will put you back in that box."

"Are you really sure you have to get the car, I'm sure we could all run back..."

"Jonah, we have to keep up appearances. We've been here a while, the vigil is probably over and even if it is, there's still people around who saw us there and probably saw us walk in the woods to come here. If we leave the car, that looks even more suspicious. I'd rather not send either one of you out alone. I don't think we are the only vampires in the area anymore, and we don't know why they're here. It's not safe."

"It's not safe for you either!"

"Doesn't matter. He's too weak to run anyway. We can't waltz him that close to people, not without him slaughtering the whole town. We don't need more deaths, not after yesterday. Stay here, I'll bring the car as close as I can. I'll come get you and we'll go back home. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Jonah rolled his eyes. Hunter turned his attention back to the boy.

"I meant what I said." The boy took a couple steps away from me and held his hands up. He looked terrified. It was funny, he was the scary one a couple seconds ago. Hunter's footsteps grew quieter by the second until I could tell he had run out of the woods.

"Well, now that's he's gone, just who are you?" Jonah asked. He sat on the bottom stair. The boy said nothing. "Well?"

"Alecsander...that's my name...but you can...call me...Alec...it's shorter."

"No last name?"

"Can't...remember...I don't...I know her...voice but...that's all."

"Why her voice?" He shrugged. "Rhetorical question dude. Look, I don't know what freaky thing you two have going on, but whatever it is, we have to figure it out."

"What do you mean freaky thing?" I asked.

"Oh gee Evie, I don't know, maybe the fact that you had a weird ass vision leading us all here and how you could hear him through the ground and shit?! He knows your voice! What else does he know about you? About all of us? He could be a spy, this could all be a set up by some witches or something! Demons maybe!"

"I know nothing...I swear."

"What would demons want with us anyway, stop being ridiculous..." If only I knew then what I know now, maybe things would have turned out differently, but never mind that.

All of a sudden, a rat ran across the floor. Alec grabbed it and before I knew it, the blood was drained from the small animal.

"We have blood bags at home you know?" Jonah grimaced at the sight. Animal blood was gross. The poor guy must be really thirsty to drink that.

"Sorry...blood is blood...right now." Then I had an idea.

I could bleed. I don't know if my blood was appealing to normal vampires, but it may suffice for now. I don't know why I'm so different from all the others, but I am. I feel like an alien most of the time because there's nothing normal about me. That didn't matter right now though. I just hope that blood loss won't kill me. I couldn't let Alec drain rats until Hunter gets back. I moved closer to him.

"Take some of mine." I rolled up the sleeve of my hoodie.

"What?! Evie are you nuts?!"

"I agree...with him...if I hurt you...the other guy..."

"Don't worry about them. I don't think my blood is appealing to vampires, but I think it may hold you over until then."

"Evie this is a bad idea! He probably hasn't fed in ages!"

"Vampire...I'm a...vampire?"

"Did that not occur to you when you are the rat?" Jonah asked harshly. I shushed him.

"I should think so."

"I forgot...about that...sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Now..." I held up my wrist. "Do you think it's going to hurt bad?"

"Evie, I'm about to send you to a mental health facility. Don't you dare do it!"

"Don't make me sing Jonah...I can stop him if he doesn't stop himself."

I ran my nail over my wrist, making a cut. It wasn't too deep, but deep enough for blood to begin to come out. Alec grabbed my wrist within seconds and latched on like a tick. He grabbed my waist and pulled me as close to him as he possibly could without letting go of my wrist. He held me tightly, so that I couldn't escape. Right now he was the hunter, and I was his prey. I was foolish enough to let him get me. After a minute or so went by, I signaled for him to let go. He didn't.

"Hey...hey..." I tapped his shoulder. He gripped me harder instead. I could feel his hands shaking, I knew he was trying to resist his urges and let go. I could feel it. Jonah was next to me in seconds.

"If you don't let you of her, I'm afraid you won't like us!"

Jonah then used his gift and flung the boy all the way to the other side of the...chamber I guess you could call it. He smashed into one of the pillars that were placed in various places around the room. He stood up from his slumped position and began running back at us. Jonah pushed him back again, you have to love telepathy.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Jonah then pulled him off the floor by hood of his sweatshirt. The boy just hung in midair.

"What the hell?!" Hunter asked as he ran up next to Jonah and I. "What did I tell you?!" He yelled Alec.

"It was my fault." I told him. "He was draining the rats, I couldn't let him do that when there was a better solution available."

"You have got to be kidding me Evie, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done it...after the blood came out, it just smelt...good."

I smiled. He was talking better; I noticed that he almost sounded British. I was glad that he was a bit better now. His pale complexion looked a bit healthier, for a vampire at least. That was my last thought before I passed out. I guess I let him take too much...